# Amendment 15 to the Patents Law (proposed)

Official source: the bill as published in Reshumot, Government Bills 1920, 30 December 2025 (https://fs.knesset.gov.il/25/law/25_ls1_10491345.pdf). It is a bill, not law. As of 13 September 2026 the Knesset legislation database (bill 1045508) lists it as tabled for first reading, with no committee assigned and no publication date. Do not treat as in force, and re-check the stage before relying on it.

### Headline changes proposed by Amendment 15

1. **Examination on request, with a 4-year mandatory deadline.** Israel would move from the current automatic-queue model to an "examination on request" system similar to the EPO. The applicant would have to file a Request for Examination within **4 years** from the filing date. Miss the 4-year window and the application is refused. This replaces the Section 18 "Notice prior to Examination" timing mechanic described above.
2. **Domestic provisional applications.** A new Israeli **provisional application** route would be introduced. Today Israel has no US-style provisional (see "No True Provisional Application" below). The reform would let applicants secure an early Israeli filing date with relaxed formal requirements, then convert or claim priority within the Paris year. This directly addresses a long-standing gap.
3. **12-month grace period.** A statutory **12-month grace period** would protect an inventor's right to a patent against the inventor's own pre-filing disclosures (or disclosures made with consent), provided the application is filed within 12 months of the disclosure. Current Israeli law has no general grace period: s.4 treats any public disclosure before the application date as destroying novelty.
4. **Expanded third-party submissions.** The bill would remove the time limit that currently applies to a third party's submission of documents and references to the examiner, and would let the third party attach explanations and relevant citations to that material.
5. **Staged effective dates.** Section 37(a) of the bill sets the general commencement at **1 month after publication**. Section 37(b)(1) defers commencement by **a further year** for examination on request, the provisional application route, and the confidential prior-art arrangement, so that ILPO and the bar can prepare; the Minister of Justice may postpone that date further by order.


### Practical implications for filing today (September 2026)

- **Do not assume the new regime is in force.** Until the bill clears its readings and the law is published, the automatic-queue + Section 18 Notice model still governs. Continue docketing Section 18 deadlines.
- **Reconsider US-only provisional reliance.** If a domestic provisional becomes available in Israel, future filings may be structured to claim priority from an Israeli provisional rather than a US one. This is a strategy decision to revisit once the law is in force.
- **Track the grace-period commencement.** A 12-month grace is helpful only if the conversion deadline is met. Even after Amendment 15 enters into force, public disclosure remains risky in jurisdictions without an equivalent grace (most of the EU and China).
- **Monitor the ILPO site and the Knesset legislation database** for the final version of the text as the bill moves through the Knesset, and confirm the position with a licensed Israeli patent attorney before changing a filing strategy on the strength of a bill.